A beautiful, high quality, large format poster, measuring a generous 86 cm x 57 cm, with photographic images of 57 species of butterflies published by Jetwing Eco Holidays is out now at leading bookshops. The images are by wildlife populariser, Gehan de Silva Wijeyratne.

The poster is a prime example of how the tourism industry is taking its responsibilities towards the environment seriously, and fills a gap in the natural history literature on Sri Lanka. It is also seen as a stepping stone towards providing a guide to the Butterflies of Sri Lanka, photographed under wild conditions.

Explaining how he got the idea for the poster, Gehan says, when he visited the Nature Society of Singapore he received a poster published by them. A keen wildlife photographer, he immediately saw the potential for creating awareness of the diversity of the butterflies in Sri Lanka through a similar photographic poster.

Sri Lanka has 242 species of butterflies including a group of insects known as the Skippers. A significant number are endemic although the species considered as endemic vary from one author to another.

Gehan, who believes the best way to ensure the long term success of education initiatives from the private sector is to underpin them with a business justification, expects publications such as these will help create awareness of the island's precious bio-diversity.